Moment in a Picture
by AnnieHart
Summary: It all starts with a moment in a picture, and memory loss becomes less certain. Daphne is trying to survive everything, while Chris unknowingly begins his fight back to her.
1. Chapter 1

Daphne gave a sigh of relief as the final bell rang and signaled that she could go home, if she so wished.

She did wish, she wished **so** hard, but things at home were different than they had been. Her family wasn't distant, they couldn't be with the hell they'd survived, but they were still on edge from everything.

She was on edge from everything.

Daphne was tired, and scared and pretty sure that her whole family was suffering from PTSD. After they hell they had recently been through, it wouldn't surprise her at all. She was terrified she'd turn around and her mom's old boss would still be alive, or there would be claws around her neck again….. **and she missed Chris so much that it hurt.**

He had made her feel safe, despite the occasional excitement…and she missed that feeling of safety, especially after everything. On the other hand, she was glad he no longer remembered her, he would have been in so much danger with everything going on and he'd been so protective of her during their relationship…it had made her feel secure.

Her accidental wipe of his memory had erased all of that…but despite the ache she felt about his absence…Chris was safe and she wouldn't argue with that. It didn't erase the fact that she missed him so much.

She was looking down at the walkway as she started the trek home after school. JJ hadn't come today and she had a headache that had been progressively growing worse during the day. Despite the hell her family had gone through over the last days, weeks even, she couldn't argue with one thing… **her powers were growing.**

Before, she'd had to focus her energy or touch people (skin to skin contact) in order to hear their thoughts….the fear that had pushed her powers to help save her family had pushed her powers further than they had realized.

She now had to focus to tune people **out.**

She generally couldn't hear most people, it was like white noise around her, but they were slowly becoming more clear as the days passed. Daphne hadn't figured out a way to deal with it, and her parents and JJ had enough going on, they didn't need to deal with her issues too.

As these thoughts circled her mind, she didn't see the body coming her way and, there-fore, didn't move out of the way.

The jolt was enough to distract her, and jolt her when she realized who it was she had collided with. **Chris.**

The ache in her chest flared **hot.**

Normally she would have stammered out an apology and made an awkward mess of everything, but that was beyond her capabilities at the moment.

Her mumbled apology wasn't though, and after the quick reply tried to get out of his vicinity as quickly as possible.

Not quick enough.

"Watch it!," Daphne heard him turn around and scold her, and briefly met his eyes. It hurt so much that he didn't remember. **She had to get over this.**

With another low, mumbled apology and her effort not to stare at him or wince at the sudden volume of mental voices from the other students, she gave Chris one last apologetic look and tried to get away from the students as quickly as possible, without running. It was not an easy task.

She was tired of running.

She also didn't see the picture she had been grasping like a lifeline of the two of them together landing face up by his feet. The picture taken by her mom and showing a completely candid Daphne and an adoring Chris looking down at her. A moment that she remembered with clarity and one that Chris did not.

For his part, Chris was confused, on edge and curious as to how a run-in with the small, redheaded girl could mess with his equilibrium so much with one collision. He'd thought he'd seen the last of her when he had confronted her about the stalking, but apparently he'd been wrong.

The collision had caught his attention though, or more specifically, she had caught his attention and the outward picture she presented seemed….off.

For some reason, Chris **knew** she was a fairly bubbly person, a bit outgoing, and friendly. The girl that had collided with him had been none of those things.

She had seemed tired…no, exhausted and there had been something at the back of her eyes that bothered him. She was scared of something,and he knew it wasn't him. She also didn't seem as outgoing, she was more reserved and that bothered him.

He didn't know why, he barely knew her…but a part deep within him flared up **hot** in protective rage. Instinctively, he knew her behavior wasn't her normal and that deep hidden part was pissed off because it meant something had happened and he hadn't been there.

That thought made him pause because…well…he'd never been in a relationship with her. He barely knew her and some part of him was pissed off because she had been clearly going through something without him being there?

That thought had come out of nowhere and it had no business being in his head. He didn't need the complications a relationship would bring.

Chris looked down as a scraping sound caught his ears and froze for a second, before anger started to set in. Who had taken a picture of him, and when?

After he bent to pick it up, he froze for a different reason. It was him, yes….it was also of the red-head that he just collided with. They were together; and they were happy.

Chris didn't know what was going on, this moment in the picture had never happened, they'd never been together; yet, according to this picture… **it had.**

He stared at the picture for a moment longer…something tugging in him, almost like a desperate clawing, that had everything to do with her and, with thoughts swirling in his head, came to a decision.

Someone was messing with him, and somehow the red-head was involved….and he was going to deal with it.

Now he just needed to find her, and to keep her from running away.

How hard could it be…?

 **Authors Note:** So...I'm back..again, kind of. I'm taking less units this semester but I've started working more and trying to find balance. I'm hoping that this place will be another stress reliever from school, as I'm working my little a** off :) Anyways, I know this isn't Dangerous or Transmitting, or any of my other works updated...but I've lost the muse for them a little bit. I'm working on it, but it may be a while longer. I'm sorry :(

I've always liked the show No Ordinary Family, and wished they'd been given more of a chance...especially since I love Daphne and Chris together and was super upset how the writers did that relationship. So...I'm making Daphne a PTSD suffering, scared, strong-willed, determined kick-ass girl trying to get past what the writers put them through, and Chris is his persistent, stubborn, determined self that is going to fight his way back to her and undo the memory loss. Mainly because I'm a sucker for a happy ending, and they never got theirs.

This is theirs, my way :) I hope you enjoy. And please, don't forget to like, comment, kudos, subscribe or anything else! Any feedback makes me happy, and not want to cry due to college.

Rant over :) As always, I own nothing, all mistakes are mine, and this was written in less than two hours because it wouldn't stop bouncing around my head.


	2. The Beginning

Daphne sat up quickly in her bed, breathing heavily, the nightmare still fresh in her mind.

She'd wanted to take a small nap, none of her family getting the sleep they needed over the last few weeks…but _apparently_ that had been a bad idea. She didn't like sleeping at night, having become wary of what monsters were creeping around outside since George had been taken with all of the other criminals and given powers.

 _No one_ **_knew_** what was going to happen, not even _Daphne_ with her mind-reading abilities. All of the secrets were behind mental walls that she didn't know how to breach without hurting yet….and _she didn't want to hurt anymore._

She also knew she couldn't go on like this forever, but she'd do it for as long as she could. _Small naps helped, so did caffeine_. She'd rather drink sweet coffee or flavored tea before she started eating candy.

She got off the bed and opened the bedroom door….from the silence of the house no-one was home but she'd only slept for an hour so she wasn't _too_ concerned. She didn't have any text messages either, so there didn't seem to be any emergency, _Thank Goodness._

What _did_ surprise her was the doorbell ringing clearly throughout the silent home. _Who was trying to visit now?_ Please… _no more surprises_. Daphne didn't think she could handle any more surprises right now.

As she cautiously walked down to the door, Daphne tried to think of anyone that should be coming over, but kept drawing a blank. No one should be over, not even her friends…she'd made sure to distance herself after the fiasco of the crazy events that had happened, letting them know that " _family stuff_ " was going on and she would be unavailable.

The people closest to her outside of her family _had to be kept safe_ , even if she isolated herself from them to do it. _She had no idea how much that thought was going to piss off the person at the door later on._

"Chris." This was new… _yet not_ …and how she **_missed_ **the not. "Hi….What are you doing here?"

 _Chris. Chris was at the door. **Why was Chris at the door?**_

Daphne was not a fan of this development…. _okay she kind of was_ …but seeing Chris _hurt_ and he was in danger around them so he needed to….

Daphne's thoughts trailed off as he seemed to brace himself and then quickly pulled out a picture….a picture she'd realized had gone missing when she got home.

 ** _Oh no_** ….she must have dropped the picture when she ran into him _(literally)_ and then somehow he'd gotten a hold of it… _this was not good_ …or maybe it was. _**No**_. Daphne roughly pushed that thought down. _It was **not** good._

She could see in his eyes that he was there for answers, and she remembered how _stubborn_ he got when he wanted answers. _This was going to be fun._

Daphne just had to lie enough to him to get him to forget everything that had happened, and leave before her parents got home. _She refused to use her powers on him. **She refused to hurt him that way again.**_

 _Just one small problem…_ she **_sucked_** at lying to him. He'd been able to tell when they were together and she had a feeling it was the same way despite his memory loss.

 _Still…she had to try._

Combined Daphne/Chris P.O.V.

Chris held up the photograph, watching her eyes closely. He'd learned in their small moment outside of school that her eyes were the most expressive thing about her and that if he wanted to learn _anything_ , he needed to keep watch on her eyes.

He also hadn't liked the fear and exhaustion that had been in her eyes earlier and the part in him that had been pissed off earlier was trying its hardest to get him to do something about it. That part kept pushing at him that the look in her eyes _wasn't normal for her,_ and _something needed to be done;_ it felt like he'd once had that right but for some reason he didn't now and _he wanted it back._

His instincts were right when her eyes locked on the photo, and simultaneously her face paled while pain and longing flashed through her eyes.

This was no photo-shopped picture. Her instant reaction confirmed that. Now, he just needed to figure out and understand how, _**apparently** , he was missing entire memories and moments that included a happy Daphne and a content Chris._

Chris locked eyes on her downcast gaze, and said lowly but clearly, "You dropped this."

With his words, her gaze shot up and he could see _everything_ clearly. They had been together, and now they weren't…he didn't remember any of it, so what the hell had happened?

He continued on, "I don't remember this, but it's me in the picture and it's obviously you. What the hell happened, and why don't I remember anything that has you in it?"

At those last words, the pain in her eyes brightened and as much as he wanted to take them back, they were the truth and he needed to know.

His instincts were telling him _it wasn't going to be that easy though_ , and so far they hadn't failed him.

That thought was confirmed when the look in her eyes was completely opposite of her next words.

"I'm so sorry that you saw that. One of my friends is practicing her photoshop skills and gave that to me as a prank. I thought I threw it away, but it seems like it survived. I can throw it away now..?"

 ** _Wow_** …she was a _horrible_ liar, at least to him, and it seemed like she knew it too. That was something he could work to his advantage though.

Chris lifted the picture out of her reach and took a couple of steps forward, entering through the open door to stand closer to her. It wasn't meant to be threatening, he would _never_ hurt her but he _could_ get the truth from her, _knew_ he'd somehow done it _before_ and with the way panic flashed across her eyes… _she was aware of it too._

"The picture's not photo-shopped, we both know that. Now that that's clear, what the hell happened and why don't I remember?"

While he was saying those words, he heard a car pull up and saw _panic_ and _relief_ flash through her eyes. _His time was up._

Daphne had never been so relieved. _This wasn't supposed to happen_. He'd _forgotten_ and _he'd been safe. **He needed to leave.**_

"You need to leave."

The look he gave her questioned her sanity but she couldn't budge… _he was safe, he had to leave._ She still couldn't help herself, not realizing that her slip up would start the avalanche of memories for him.

"You need to leave," she repeated, "It's done, you're safe, and you need to leave."

Safe? What? _He hadn't been safe?_

"What do you mean safe?"

Daphne was fed up at this point. He was so freaking _stubborn._ It had made her feel safe before, but now she was just frustrated. That, and panicked.

That panic had her erasing the tiny amount of distance between them, planting her hand on his chest and using her adrenaline to push him back out of the door. _Who was she kidding_ …she'd _never_ been able to move him physically, and it was only because of their conversation and her visible panic she was able to at this point.

Chris let her push him out of the door, instincts telling him he'd pushed too far for the day but froze for a second when her hand slid off his chest and touched his bare arm.

That was the first time they'd had skin-to-skin contact… _yet it wasn't._ A memory began to push his awareness but he pushed it down, _later._

As it was, Daphne was oblivious to his momentary pause, more focused on getting him out of the house before her parents came in.

"You need to leave, _please!_ "

With that last pleading request, Daphne no longer cared about politeness, given she had just pushed him out of the door, and quickly shut the door on him, praying he would take the sign for what it was, _and leave._

He did, her glance out the window telling her that… _but what she hadn't expected was that he wouldn't go far, he would return._

She'd pushed down memories of their relationship and if she'd given some of them _more thought_ , would have _remembered_ that _when it came to her, Chris was stubborn and protective as hell._ Now that he knew she was keeping something from him, he wouldn't stop until he found out what it was.

Daphne leaned against the door for a moment, letting out a relieved sigh before straightening up and heading upstairs. Her parents didn't need to know about this, and if they saw her now, they would.

She just needed a few minutes to calm down, she'd come back downstairs, talk with her family for a little bit, work on homework….and try to not panic that Chris knew something was up.

 _If Chris remembered, he wouldn't be safe and she needed him to be safe._

Her thought process didn't take a stubborn, pissed-off, determined, protective, slightly mind-wiped ex-boyfriend into account.

Authors Note: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I was rewatching episodes of No Ordinary Family and the Daphne/Chris scenes, especially the attempted mugging scene and I'm so upset that the writers never resolved the relationship. After that...this chapter just kind of came out. I know this isn't one of the more popular fandoms, but I still appreciate it when you read my works and support them. Thank You! Again, all work is mine. I own nothing, just the thoughts and words. All mistakes are mine, I do try to make it flow and understandable as best I can but I'm human (as I tell the students I tutor) and do make mistakes, so if you point it out nicely, I'll forever thank you :)


	3. Hello and Help

Hello Loves!

I know it's been a good long while since I've updated...anything, really. I'm working on getting back into writing fanfiction on here, both updating my current stories and potentially starting new ones. No comments on new stories right now. However, on the subject of updating current stories, I'm asking for your help. I have bits and pieces of many ideas bouncing around in my head for these stories but nothing that I can really pin down and expand upon, whether it's a one-shot or start/continuation of a series (yes I'm aware that I only have one series but knowing me, that'll probably change and then not get updated for a long time...I'm saying sorry right now if that does happen. I can't control my inspiration...I wish I could.)

RIght now...I'm asking for your help. I'm asking for prompts and ideas and scenarios and moments (you get the picture...right?) that you may like to see in my stories that I can work on; whether it's future/past/present/dream,etc (Or try to work on that may actually end up being something different, yet similar?) I pretty much have writers block and I need help getting past it.

No constructive criticism or comments about how it's been forever, please. I'm very much aware of just how long it's been for all of my stories, and despite my guilt on not updating, life and my mental health and energy would not let me and focusing on, well...me, was more important. We are all human and I don't get paid for this (which is good because with how long it's been, I would probably have been fired).

I may not use every single idea/prompt/scenario/moment,etc, but anything you all can offer to help me get back into my stories, I would so very much appreciate.

Also, when I update things again, for all stories, this will most likely get deleted, so I'm sorry in advance for potentially multiple notifications of updates.

Love you all, and appreciate you all so much! I look forward to seeing what you all have fore me!

AnnieHart


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